Q&A with Qamar Naseem from Blue Veins Pakistan on child marriage and the latest bill passed by the Punjab Assembly 

What does the Punjab Assembly passing the Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2026 mean for girls in the province?

The passage of the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2026 marks a landmark development for girls in the province, significantly strengthening their legal protection and affirming their rights. By setting the minimum age of marriage at 18 years for both boys and girls, the law removes the earlier gender-based disparity and clearly recognises that girls have the right to childhood, education, and informed decision-making. It also reflects an important shift in perspective, moving away from treating child marriage as a cultural matter and instead recognising it as a serious violation of child rights and protection.

Equally significant is the classification of child marriage as a cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable offence, which sends a strong message about the seriousness of the crime. Declaring it non-bailable means that individuals involved, including those who facilitate or permit such marriages, cannot easily secure release after arrest, thereby increasing accountability and acting as a strong deterrent. It also reduces the space for informal settlements or family pressure to influence legal proceedings, which has historically allowed such cases to go unpunished. For girls, this creates a more protective legal environment where the responsibility shifts from the child to the state.

The bill includes an amendment stating that no child should be treated as an offender for being party to a child marriage. How important is that provision?

This provision is very important because it clearly recognises the child as a victim rather than a perpetrator. In many cases, children, especially girls, are coerced, pressured, or lack the capacity to give informed consent, yet earlier legal frameworks did not always make this distinction explicit. This amendment ensures that legal processes prioritise the best interests of the child and prevent them from being blamed or penalised for circumstances beyond their control.

It has taken time for this clarity to emerge because child marriage was long viewed as a private or social issue, not a child protection concern. Combined with societal norms and limited understanding of coercion and consent, this delayed the shift toward a more rights-based, victim-centred legal approach.

A proposed amendment that would have declared marriages contracted through abduction or coercion void was withdrawn. What does that signal?

The withdrawal signals that there is still hesitation within the legislative space to fully confront the structural realities of forced and coerced marriages. While the law has made strong progress in criminalising child marriage, moving toward automatically invalidating such marriages touches on sensitive social, legal, and religious debates, which likely contributed to the reluctance to adopt this provision.

For girls, the consequences are significant. Without an explicit provision declaring such marriages void, a girl who has been abducted, coerced, or trafficked into marriage may face legal ambiguity around her marital status and must seek court intervention to annul the marriage. This can delay protection, prolong exposure to harm, and, in some cases, reinforce pressure to remain in the marriage.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, AJK, and Gilgit-Baltistan still operate under the 1929 colonial law. What is standing in the way of reform?

Reform in these jurisdictions continues to face a combination of political, social, and institutional barriers. A major challenge is the lack of strong political will, where child marriage is not consistently treated as a legislative priority. Policymakers often remain cautious due to pressure from conservative and radical religious groups, which can mobilise opposition against reforms perceived to conflict with traditional or religious interpretations.

Socio-cultural norms continue to normalise early marriages, especially in rural areas, making reform politically sensitive. While the Federal Shariat Court has supported standardising the age at 18, positions historically taken by the Council of Islamic Ideology have created hesitation around criminalisation. Weak birth registration systems, limited enforcement capacity, and unique governance structures in AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan further slow progress.

Provincial child marriage laws do not declare child marriages void. Only Balochistan’s 2025 law does. What does that mean for a girl who wants to exit a child marriage in Punjab?

In Punjab, even if a marriage is illegal, it is not invalid by default. A girl must approach the court to seek annulment or dissolution, which can be slow and difficult. Balochistan’s law does declare marriages void ab initio, but only under specific aggravated conditions, such as when a child is abducted, coerced, trafficked, sold, or induced through deceit. In practice, this means a child marriage in Punjab can remain illegal yet legally existent, placing the burden on the girl to exit. There is a broader gap in ensuring immediate and consistent legal relief for all girls.

The new Punjab law does not override personal laws. Christian personal law still permits native girls to be married from the age of 13. How does this undermine what Punjab has just achieved?

The Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2026 applies to all citizens and is not limited to the Muslim population. However, because it does not explicitly override personal laws, a degree of legal uncertainty remains. The coexistence of personal laws that allow lower or undefined minimum ages can create ambiguity in interpretation and enforcement, potentially leading to uneven application. The lack of full legal harmonisation may still leave gaps and inconsistencies that affect how effectively those protections are realised for all girls.

Forced conversion through marriage disproportionately affects Hindu, Christian, and Sikh girls. What legal tools do minority girls in Punjab have right now?

Minority girls in Punjab currently have limited but important legal tools, though gaps remain. The Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act 2026 provides protection by criminalising child marriage, applicable to all communities. Laws on kidnapping, trafficking, and forced marriage under the Pakistan Penal Code can also be invoked in cases of coercion or abduction. Courts may issue protective orders based on the best interests of the child. However, the absence of explicit provisions on forced conversion and marriage, and the gaps in the National Commission for Minority Rights Act 2025, which makes no reference to forced conversion at all, leave minority girls reliant on general criminal law rather than targeted protection mechanisms.

Courts have consistently upheld child marriages using the puberty standard. Does a stronger law in Punjab change that?

A stronger law is an important step, but it does not automatically change entrenched judicial practice. Courts in Pakistan have, at times, relied on the puberty standard in personal law, which can override or dilute statutory protections in individual cases. The Punjab law provides courts with a stronger basis to prioritise child protection, but judicial interpretation remains a key barrier. Real change will depend not only on stronger legislation but also on judicial clarity, progressive interpretation, and consistent application of the law, ensuring that the statutory age of 18 remains the standard across all cases.

The Islamabad High Court held a child marriage void in Mst. Mumtaz Bibi v. Qasim. How significant is that judgment, and why has it not set a wider precedent?

The judgment is highly significant because it breaks from the traditional reliance on the puberty standard and links child marriage to criminal law protections under the Pakistan Penal Code. By holding such a marriage void, the court recognised that a minor cannot give lawful consent, reinforcing a rights-based interpretation of the law. However, Pakistan’s legal system does not operate strictly on binding precedent across all courts, especially between provinces. Judicial practice remains inconsistent, and many courts continue to rely on personal law interpretations. The absence of harmonised legislation explicitly declaring child marriages void has meant that this progressive judgment has not yet translated into uniform practice nationwide.

Child marriage prevalence dropped from 41% in 1991 to 18% in 2018. What will it take to accelerate that pace, particularly for girls from religious minority communities?

The decline shows that reform is working, but accelerating progress, especially for religious minority girls, requires a more targeted and coordinated approach. Pakistan needs full legal harmonisation, with 18 as the minimum age across all provinces and personal laws. Stronger enforcement mechanisms, including birth registration, computerized national identity card (CNIC) requirements, and accountability of nikah registrars, are critical. There must be specific legal safeguards against forced conversion and marriage, alongside accessible protection services and safe reporting mechanisms. Community engagement with religious leaders, local influencers, and families is essential to shift norms. Finally, sustained investment in girls’ education, economic opportunities, and social protection will address the root causes, ensuring that vulnerable girls are not pushed into early marriage.

The Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2026 is real progress. But as Qamar makes clear, progress on paper does not automatically become protection in practice. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, AJK, and Gilgit-Baltistan still operate under a law written in 1929. Personal laws for Christian and Parsi communities remain unreformed. Courts continue to apply the puberty standard. And girls from religious minority communities, already identified in Equality Now’s South Asia report as among the least protected, continue to face compounded legal and institutional failures.

Pakistan stands at a critical juncture. The legislative momentum is real. What is needed now is harmonisation across provinces and personal laws, consistent judicial application of the age of 18, and specific, enforceable protections for minority girls. Every girl in Pakistan deserves the same legal protection, regardless of her religion, province, or community. The law is closer to reflecting that. The system that enforces it must follow.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​